Day 162: Knowing God's Voice

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand."  John 10:27-28

This is a message of reassurance, and I am sure that many of us need this message this very day.

This reassurance comes with instructions, though, and we cannot avoid those instructions.  Jesus says My sheep hear My voice...and they follow Me.  Easy enough, isn't it?  When I was in grade school, as soon as the bell rang, I knew it was time to change classes.  I followed the sound of the bell.  Following Jesus should be just as easy, right?  Of course it can be that easy!  We just have to make it easier for ourselves.

As I'm on the way to the Viola da Gamba Society of America Conclave, I remember when I was at another historical music festival a few years ago, the Texas Toot.  I took a lesson with a professional, and I played in an ornate way that I thought was impressive.  She replied, however, that what I had done was not in good taste.  It was good playing, but not tasteful.  From then, I sought to understand what good taste in Baroque music was, and I feel now, especially after receiving guidance from many teachers and performers, that I have somewhat of a sense for this good taste.

What did it take?  Well, it took, and still takes, lots of listening.  I listen to many different artists and many different pieces to understand what is going on.  I read countless pages by teachers of the time period and modern commentators just to get a sense about the style of music from back then.  I have sifted through many do nots just to start doing.  Any profession will require this sort of dedication, and we all have a certain calling that we pursue with all our time and attention.

However, the good news is that we have a simple way of getting in touch with God.  We have the Bible with many quotes from great people and from God.  We can only understand the sound of God's voice when we surround ourselves with God's voice.  We can get a sense for it by sitting in church, where we all hear the word of God being read to us.  Even easier is just to grab a Bible and start reading.  Nowadays, we have an even easier step: listen to an audio Bible.   When we get connected with the Bible, we start to understand that God is calling us constantly.  We will learn that God reassures us more than scares us.  Rather than listen to the loud voices that are trying to scare us into voting one way or another, to scare us into killing ourselves, to scare us into killing and hating all those around us, we will find comfort in all that Jesus has to say.  Jesus tells us that times will be tough, but he reassures us so many times more than just telling us to be afraid.  As Christians, we are called to be brave and bold in all our tough situations.  We shall know God's voice, and we shall receive eternal life.

Day 153: The Sweet, Good Words

"Good words are a honeycomb, and their sweetness is a healing of the soul."  Proverbs 16:22

This metaphor is so full of imagery.

The honeycomb is something that represents many things, and in the wisdom literature of the bible, it represents God's word.  Today, in my reading plan, I just so happened to read "How sweet to my taste are Your teachings, more than honey and the honeycomb in my mouth." (Psalm 118(119):103)  And, whenever I come across this metaphor, I have to wonder, why is it used?  I mean, in the developed world today, we have rampant obesity, especially in the United States, and sugars are a major cause (I would dare to say the leading cause).  So why would God's word be like a sweet that spurs more lust than discipline?

To start, as I think about honey, I can't help but remember all of those "nature doctor" posts that make their rounds on Facebook, the ones that say that honey can cure any disease, even cancer.  Perhaps honey was seen as something more medicinal in the biblical age, but, then, the metaphors talk more about the taste than the healing properties (although the verse I want to talk about has both).

What I think about the most for this metaphor, though, is that the honeycomb is a result of so much work.  If you ever study or read things about bees, you'll come to know that they are hard workers.  The hive is an intricate layout of a home for the queen and the larvae, so that there can be more bees.  We have also come to rely on bees to pollinate our plants, which also help to nourish the bees.  Yet, after all that hard work, the bees lose their honeycombs to whichever consumers are brave enough to extract them.  Whoever ends up being able to take those honeycombs and extract honey from them has to face the bees.  I know that I could never become a beekeeper for fear of getting stung even through protective wear.  But, the end result is quite delicious.

In the same way, many wise people have pondered over so many concepts.  We have the fortune of having many words that have been dictated or said by God in our bibles, and we can continue to meditate and feast on them whenever we'd like.  The best part of this is that we can be healed by all the good words that we read and learn.  Whenever we learn all of the things that Jesus has taught us well, we will be healed.  We will become better people.  We will make the world around us even better, for the good words of Christ come down to one command: love.

Day 151: Feeding on the Word

"Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."  John 6:27

This is a great command, but it does require us to think a bit.

Of course, we need food to live.  We get hungry and need to fulfill that need on a regular basis so that we can continue to be healthy.  However, we can't let that pursuit take over our lives to the point we can't do anything else.  When we devote our lives just to the pursuit of money, we begin to lose our soul.  We no longer have the time to contemplate the beauty of God, and we start to turn towards other riches in order to fill up our spiritual hunger.  We will turn to other speakers, other books, other gods, other idols, just to satiate our hunger for the moment.

So, Jesus is telling us to follow him at every moment so that we can continue to mature spiritually.  We need to grow stronger by nourishing our souls with the good bread that comes from Jesus.  And what is that bread, exactly?  Well, to start, it is feasting on every word that Jesus proclaims, since he is, after all, the word incarnate.  Now, that can seem to be quite a bit for us to do, since we would have an entire bible to keep up with, learning every single word.  When I was pursuing my English degree in particular, I had to spend lots of time with the pieces of literature I had to discuss and/or write about.  I had to make sure that I understood what the author/poet was communicating to me, and I had to be sure that I was aware of all the things that were going on, particularly with the language.  This took quite a toll on my ability to focus on other things, particularly my music, which was my other degree I was pursuing simultaneously.  I can't imagine how hard it must be to learn all of the bible well enough to say that one is full off the word.

But this is where the earthly and heavenly food come together.  Just as Jesus united both the heavenly and the earthly through his incarnation, he does the same in his preaching.  He has taught us all about the Kingdom of Heaven, and he has even told us what it's like.  The neat thing is that it's something that we can bring about on earth, today, right now.  When we dedicate our lives to following Jesus, we learn how to become more loving towards God and towards everybody that's around us.  Each time that we learn to grow in this love, every piece of scripture will serve as a reinforcement rather than a new command.  As we continue on our journey towards Jesus, we will be able to focus our whole lives towards him, not abandoning all of those around us.  We will be the ones to prepare the world for the Kingdom of Heaven.  By feeding on the word of Christ, we will be able to serve that same word to so many others, so that they can start joining us in the greater community of heaven on earth.

Words

"For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." (Matthew 10:20)
This reminds me of a popular movie technique where, well into the movie, a distraught person will have a monologue, and as soon as she's into her speech, the voice changes to her mentor from a much earlier part of the movie.  It also reminds me of how, after watching a series so much, one can quote many parts during everyday conversations at very apt times.  That is what we need to be doing as Christians.  When we live and breathe the Word of God, and when we accept the Holy Spirit, we will not be lost for words.  In another event in Jesus' life, the devil tempts Him with Bible verses, but Jesus knew the word so well that He was able to give the correct answers to every temptation.  In the same way, when people who are outspoken with just one measly verse of the Bible confront us, we must be armed with the Word of Truth.  The only solution for all of our situations is the Holy Word and the Word Incarnate, who is Jesus Christ.

God's Word

This morning's readings bring the power of and the necessity for God's word to mind.  The resounding theme is the text of David's grand psalm, particularly, "Your word is a lantern to my feet and a light upon my path." (Psalm 119:105)
Sometimes we forget about what a gift light is for us.  It shows us the way, especially in the midst of darkness.  How many times are we in the darkness?
Jesus was tempted in the deserts by the devil, an event I can only imagine as a dark scene with the evil attempting to quench the burning light of God.  However, Jesus, being the Word in flesh, the embodiment of God's Word, shuts the devil up with great quotes from scripture.  In another instance in the book of Esther, we see how Mordecai, the devout Jew, is not remembered for his good deeds and is even being conspired against—another moment of darkness.  But, through his own respect and life in God, the king finally praises him, and, in the reading for tomorrow, punishes the advisor who had conspired against Mordecai.
And what about us? What kinds of darkness are we going through?  On the surface, sometimes we prefer to retreat from the light of God into the darkness of bars and clubs and motel rooms.  Sometimes we like to retreat into the darkness of closing our eyes to the radiance of Jesus.  Even more so, we face persecution from many out there who wish to exterminate the LGBT community.  They like to throw bible verses and shout and shoot and stone and beat.  But, remembering the psalm, we too can rest assured that God's love is here for us.  In God's word we can find all the comfort we need.  The Bible is a testament to God's love for each and every one of us.  There is darkness, but the light of reconciliation and, ultimately, salvation outshines and extinguishes the darkness.